Toni Morrison interview | American Author | Award winning | Mavis on Four | 1988

Mavis Nicholson speaks to American Author Toni Morrison.
First shown: 24/02/1988
if you would like to license a clip from this video please e mail:
[e-mail]
Quite: VT42498

[@johnf.sowards8707]

This, alone, justifies the existence of the internet.

[@JefersonSantos-bt1ef]

amen

[@grandy]

Ur comment makes going thru the comments section justified 😁

[@Nettamorphosis]

I’ve never seen a better comment.

[@amazonglamazon6633]

@@Nettamorphosis Yes!! My thoughts precisely!! 🤓📚🏆

[@dwi5114]

Amen and amen.

[@michaelnattoo2633]

Ms. Morrison's voice is sooo soothing. RIP.

[@afropress]

I know right?!!

[@ladennayoung2939]

Yes. It really is. I was going to comment that I like her voice as well.

[@MrsMe-ld1mt]

Soothing, and well spoken

[@hayleyannamathieson7261]

It is. She is wonderful 🤗

[@khaledbenaida5676]

it is

[@iamporshalove]

"How do you know if death is better for me.. since you've never died" Wow. Literally gave me chills. Such a powerful statement.

[@Gardenkeeper1000]

Exactly. Lately my life changed when I had to watch my boyfriend die because his poa made it a priority to pull the plug because my boyfriend signed a paper 7 years ago. He had a stroke and they made the decision after on the third week. When I asked him to squeeze my hand twice if he wanted to live, once for going to heaven, he squeezed 2 times. He wanted to live… he died on Aug. 2. On that day. I did not agree with the decision. Ever since I wonder what the difference is between what dr. kevorkian does and how the family just let him die- because “this is not my son anymore. He didn’t recognize me… “ of course not! He had a stroke! He didn’t want to die. It was out of his hands, or mine. Since then I made it a point to nurture a beautiful relationship with him and all other spirits of ancestors, relatives, and guides. Because we are still part of each other’s lives death cannot separate souls.❤🦋

[@francessaunders3447]

One of the best interviews I’ve seen thus far. The interviewer wasn’t interested in asking about where whiteness stood in Morrison’s work but instead was interested in what the work represents.

[@johnf.sowards8707]

After this, I've devoured everything that the Thames TV youtube channel will post of Mavis Nicholson's interviews. They are an absolute treasure. Really edifying. Check her out: James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and lots of British authors too.

[@cadecannon159]

Yeah, she actually sounded like she read the work and intended on having a dialogue.

[@melanatedcutie748]

🎯🎯🎯🎯

[@MJ-ye7dd]

Mavis Nicholson was so professional ,,may these two heroines rest in peace

[@nj7422]

Such elegance, poise and beautiful, love this video! Rest in Heaven

[@rosehiggins6510]

N J yes so true! and such a brilliant lady that will be missed dearly 💕

[@tricie79]

She is my literary mother. My heart rejoices and aches at the same time. Rest well Mama Toni

[@PamelaTaylor]

YES

[@kimedison6677]

@@PamelaTaylor Mine too

[@Cymricus]

"it's amazing how much time there is when you're unhappy" ...we lost such an artist last month

[@anthonyleem89]

The glint in their eyes as they exchanged quiet appreciation for each other in this beautifully rhythmic, melodic interview... this provided me an example of what beautiful dialogue between two evolved, curious intellectuals looks like... and i have to add, the retention of their respective voices throughout this literary dance, shows the many layers of honesty through which even an abrupt british critic and a soulfully emotional poet can share without betraying themselves in the least.

[@jeromelj1010]

I didn’t want this interview to end. Such an amazing conversation between perceptive women.

[@soundtreks]

Agreed. So many interviewers these days can’t get out of their own way with their own agenda. This interviewer did a beautiful job of asking really probing questions and let Morrison tell her story. Wonderful!

[@wonderwoman5528]

It’s an absolute disgrace that Mavis Nicholson hasn’t had an entire 3 hour program dedicated to her life’s work. She was the best interviewer we’ve had. Parkinson doesn’t compare. You know she read the author’s she interviewed and she asked thoughtful questions, and could build up a rapport and bond with anyone. I’m still waiting for this Welsh legend to be given the remembrance she deserves.

[@djdefk2]

So agree she was way better than Parkinson Mavis was very personable almost like talking with a friend. But have to admit I did get distracted by her legs lols Toni Morrison; a legendary writer author such a shame she’s gone a brilliant mind

[@wonderwoman5528]

💯 % @@djdefk2

[@ionagibbs1192]

she is so amazing. you can almost see the cogs turning in her head every time she speaks. so, so powerful

[@beresbailey1790]

The most amazing thing for me is she uses no vocal crutches to articulate she words no matter how long she speaks on any subject.

[@patriciacampbell2637]

The sound from the voices of my favorite literal giants like Toni Morrison James Baldwin and Maya Angelou has always had a strange effect on me, whenever I hear them speak, I pause and listen, like a magnet drawn helplessly into whatever story or messages they are sharing....I become apart of their world for those ...moments it is love. I honor and give them the reverence they so deserve these Black special beings that walked among us continue to sleep in paradise with the Ancestors......ASE`

[@Fordie47]

Why and how did we allow such compassionate intellectualism to abandon our society through the sickly self-indulgence of the soap opera silliness of social media, cell phones, and technological loneliness and separation of social distancing? The great Toni Morrison illuminated what lies buried in our collective consciousness, cognitive dissociation and lonely despair. This great interviewer inspires her illumination and brings out the spirit of her ancestral essentialness. My God what are we witnessing, seeing, hearing and feeling here? Is it the love of humanity that we lost so long ago? Dear God is there a way it can come back to life again? Like Beloved? God bless your precious spirits Toni Morrison and Mavis Nicholson. You are indeed channeling God to us in this very thoughtful, insightful and uplifting conversation!

[@TishB79]

Very well put. Thank you! 💖

[@Fordie47]

@@TishB79 What a spiritual intellect you are, my lady. I liked your comment. Thank you.

[@authorpreneursecrets]

So articulate...she pulls you in...

[@pagogo84]

She does indeed, just when you think you're out she pulls you right back in...

[@tekkieman]

She’s so articulate. I could listen to her read the phone book.

[@Robertoni7]

She always had a lovely way of speaking. I was always captivated when she spoke. A lovely soul. Glad we shared the same name.

[@beresbailey1790]

She speaks as though she's reading her thoughts out loud. It's a reader's tone and cadence to her words.

[@pacinorules752]

I could listen to her talk all day

[@jonpirtle2605]

The interviewer's thoughful questions, wisdom, compassionate and clear readings of Morrison's work and her thoughtful questions made this interview perhaps the best of any writer I've ever seen. So refreshing. And when one comes to a writer as important as Toni Morrison, we owe you both a great debt. Thank you.

[@Jake-io1vu]

"My whole education was to make sure I didn't believe things like that. I dismissed all sorts of things that were indigenous in my family -- superstition and discredited information, and that discredited way of knowing that discredited people always have. But when I began to write, that was the place where I had to go. That's where the information was."

[@eiffeltower7503]

I was traumatised by The Bluest Eyes. What a book, my goodness!

[@teresam5199]

Funny, I was healed by it

[@evelyngarrison6007]

Every time I listen to this lady speak it elevates my whole day. She is just so lovely--gracious, emotionally intelligent with perfect humility. Just a gorgeous soul.

[@kimpup8135]

This is, hands down, my favorite interview of this amazing woman. As someone already said in one of the comments- it is so wonderful that the interviewer is so articulate and well versed in Morrison’s work. LOVELY. RIP my absolute most beloved and adored writer of all time!!!! 🦋

[@CH-is1vc]

She seems so ethereal, yet real, and so 'one' with herself. Prof. Morrison is wise beyond words and I can just listen to her for ours. I am so thankful she herself narrated some of her audiobooks.

[@ShivamSingh-qz3kh]

RIP Mama Morrison.

[@Michelle-pn9xt]

I am sure that she was not your mama.

[@kamrankhan-lj1ng]

@@Michelle-pn9xt yea

[@bahmanghahremani6080]

Such grace and wisdom.

[@beerus101]

The squint at 8:35... God I love toni Morrison!

[@yeniarivarola]

What an exquisite interview.

[@falanajerido875]

Yes the interviewer was very much up to her game the dialogue was very profound

[@nithyakalyanipub288]

How heart-wrenching, how deeply complex- I can feel her, touch her and hug her now more than ever, without any barrier of time and space.

[@rashidahshakir2632]

The interviewer is mesmerized. She knows she is in the presence of genius. She will tell her great grand-children what it meant to her.

[@cadecannon159]

OMG! They should have just hired Nicholson as Morrison's primary interviewer. I've seen some really terrible interviewers, who simply had no capacity to have a dialogue. I feel like the she had educated herself on the work and on Morrision.........but I like that she actually had a dialogue with Morrison as a writer, a woman and about her motivations.

[@user-ey2ln7vk2c]

It's so enchanting to see this gallant lady with intricate fabric of thoughts and opinions , how wonderfully she sews vivid colors and shades of different characters.I regret that I started reading her books quite late in life but the insight and impression is going to stay forever.

[@maryeliason1504]

I just love & admire her so much. So intelligent & sincere & beautiful. Love & cherish her books.

[@thomasblethyn9639]

Never seen an interviewer so perfectly resonate with an interviewee

[@lenmoore9109]

So articulate and yet so utterly relatable too.

[@bronwynjacobs3758]

I love how she says when you're unhappy time can seem so long

[@teribrod4017]

Just a brilliant woman!!!

[@aminah61]

Oh me...Oh my, Ms. Morrison is a sheroe of mine since my first introduction in 1970 to 'The Bluest Eye' and my book shelf reflects all her writings with the most recent one, "The Source of Self-Regard". She is now an ancestor with a legacy of tremendous depth and 100 years from now people will be reading and studying her works. I'm all up in my feelings. Rest in peace, knowledge and love.

[@debbarker8152]

RIP Toni Morrison you left us at a time your voice is needed more than ever . Love from Australia 😓

[@CadeCYC]

She is profoundly eloquent, honest, soulful and wise.

[@p.w.7493]

A true black queen! With rythm and rhymes. Prose only she knows! That was you, Toni Morrison! R.I.P.💕

[@niabelizaire3596]

Happy heavenly birthday, Toni! 🎊🎉🎈🎁🎂🥳

[@enchantresse23]

She was so great and gallant 🖊💕

[@tasibho]

"Somehow truer because it wasnt factual."...wow!

[@pagogo84]

That hit me too...

[@jeromelj1010]

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about the difference between the truth and facts.

[@ikemreacts]

@@jeromelj1010 Chimamanda is an embarrassment. Every time she opens her mouth, I cringe. She is not cut from the same cloth as Toni Morrison, I'm afraid. To see her fawning and mincing in the presence of Hilary Clinton made me feel ashamed for all Africans everywhere.

[@queenannesrevenge1437]

@@ikemreacts You need to see a specialist about your issues. Disturbing.

[@ikemreacts]

@@queenannesrevenge1437 It's disturbing to not bow and beg and scrape before Hillary Clinton? Get off your knees, woman. Find some dignity.

[@nationsfavouritegravy6866]

Can you believe this level of depth and intelligence is what was on Channel 4 three decades ago? Twenty minutes, brilliant precision and restraint in their answers, no-one talking over the other, complicated ideas about literature, society and the writing process. It is pretty shocking what the UK has become.

[@minskybrown8634]

A beautiful interview which captures Ms Morrison's brilliance as a writer. Her intelligence, eloquence and her spiritual essence. A writer who leaves us a legacy to be forever proud of. A writer, the greatest of the C20th. Thank you.

[@m.b.1702]

Thank you for putting this on KZbin, so we all can enjoy this Laureate! God bless you Toni❤Your spirit here will be missed ❤🦋❤🦋🦋❤❤

[@grandy]

This is literally what it feels like to be a fly on the wall...just listening to a conversation between two beautiful souls 💗

[@TouchofShunshine]

I love what Ms. Morrison said, "How do you know death is better for me? Since you have never died." Wow that is a powerful statement.

[@jdg825]

thank you for this. never seen. what a gem.

[@AndyWarpol]

My god, what I would give to hear her speak again, or even to just know that she was still alive and thinking of what profound and true thing she was going to say next.

[@marquisbullock6744]

I’m loving these surfacing videos and clips! I’d been longing for these since I’d discovered her years ago. How I miss her so. I’m still stunned that she is not in this world anymore.

[@justinafields4450]

OMG...Her books are a MUST for psychological/psychiatrist therapy...I plan to read everything she has written😐😯😓

[@marupaswal982]

Don't know why I love African writers so much. They put their hearts out

[@Aminah6623]

R.I.P. Toni Morrison. I love and revere you. Thank you for having been here.

[@ladymiss9466]

great interview. both ladies rock!💅🏾

[@aishajaha5052]

Rest In Peace to a literary genius, relative, and strong woman.

[@ourlegacylectures8937]

Relative? Do tell. 😊

[@olive7821]

I wish she did ASMR😭 she’s so calm❤️

[@garo3115]

Homage to you Ms. Toni, Goodnight...... Condolences to you son! Thank you for sharing your GOD given gift of wonderful, thought provoking stories. Your talents are etiched in our ❤/minds forever!!!!!!

[@JohnSmith-uy7sv]

1 Corinthians 3:19 New Living Translation 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness. 1 Peter 1:25 New Living Translation 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you. We all deserve hell.

[@PamelaTaylor]

yes

[@bronwynjacobs3758]

I can listen to Toni Morrison speaking all the time as she speaks so much sense

[@sandihunt]

We continue to speak your name

[@lutherdecoratorsinternatio2654]

I can listen to her speak for hours

[@selinarobinson6767]

Dr. Morrison, lady, sista, you ROCK! You are very beloved in the community! Much love, gratitude & respect!

[@matchingbirthdays4happiness]

For the last week I’ve wallowed in documentaries about great American writers such as John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatby), William Faulkner, Susan Sontag and a few others. This kind of feverish thirst comes upon me once or twice a year where I glorify the writer’s life and all that it entails. I am totally consumed and in a creative space that I relish. It wasn’t until this week that I began to look at the lives of Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and suddenly I hear Toni Morrison passes away. There was something mystical about experiencing her death while I was in this creative space. I’ve always adored her stories and the videos documenting her writings. I told myself that I would meet her one day. When I heard of her death I was stunned. I felt a tremendous loss.

[@lilafeldman8630]

I know the feeling. Being in that creative space. It's an incredible feeling. I was in my own when she passed away.

[@__CJLORRAINE__]

Just... wow. I was entranced just listening to her, evoking the same level of depth and honesty as she does in her writing.

[@jayjosephkarvaski9212]

Toni Morrison is one of the most intelligent women I have ever heard speak. She is a beautiful example of a leader and a queen really. I could only hope to be able to understand these things with such depth and breadth as she does. Especially in her novel "Song of Solomon." She is truly an amazing woman and I wish I could have met her.

[@teresam5199]

Her and Nikki Giovanni ❤️

[@jayjosephkarvaski9212]

@@teresam5199 I agree whole heartedly. Nikki Giovanni is an amazing poet and person as well.

[@classical.pianist]

Pure genius. Confoundingly luminous.

[@autumnhomer9786]

What a thorougher beautiful interview. Thank you for the upload. R.I.P

[@geronimojones1564]

She is so elegant and intelligent.

[@SueLyons1]

2:18 'it's amazing how much time you have when you are unhappy' 🤔 4:10 'solitude is critical... and if that isn't enough you will.invent other company and that is fiction' 🤔 5:05 'the part that was factual but not true... more true' 👏 17:28 'stripped down, made lean' ❤

[@synthiasimms4608]

Toni has a beautiful mind & voice!What an excellent interview!

[@isabellas.c.scanderbeg2670]

Amazing conversation. Amazing Woman and Writer, Toni Morrison. Thank you for your works 🌿

[@TylerDeneuve]

I could listen to Toni Morrison's beautiful voice all day.

[@kardon4996]

I must say the interviewer is aaaaamazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good questions and she listens !!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a talent !!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!

[@RashmikaLikesBooks]

What a lovely interviewer.

[@ajwalker4416]

I have never seen this interview and it was a pleasure to get a real glimpse into her process for "Beloved" and so many of the reasons behind the writing of the book. This is something I'll have to review again and again.

[@poppopartist3870]

SULA Appropriately, Shadrack is the first major character to be introduced in the novel. He is Sula's ancestral presence - a representation of an ancestral spirit, a husband, a father, a provider dispensed by the gods to "always" be there for the displaced Sula. Theirs was a spiritual kinship - metaphorically, a marriage of traditional West African water spirit/priest to a water priestess, both oracles of a river god. Shadrack's divine nature results from his state of unconsciousness as a victim of shell-shock during World War I. In traditional West African culture when one had lain unconscious for many days, people believed that that person's spirit left the physical body and entered the ancestral world where he or she became an active participant. Physically surviving the state of unconsciousness bestowed no insanity upon the person - no matter how eccentric or erratic the behavior following the onset. On the contrary, unconsciousness bestowed a specialness and a spirituality, since the unconscious person had communed directly with the ancestral spirits.

[@lovingatlanta]

👍Great interview. 😔The world lost another one of the greats on 8/5/19!! RIP dear lady. 😔

[@shethewriter]

Wish I’d heard this earlier. Rest in peace and virtue ❤️

[@joekratman1872]

Such an intelligent, eloquent, insightful, charismatic and boundry-pushing woman. I don't think we'll see a better writer in our lifetime

[@haveaniceday2229]

Profound! When I attempted to read toni Morrison's books when I was in my 20s, she was WAAAAAAY over my head. I had all of her books and gave them away. 😩 I hate i did that bc now at 45 I TOTALLY get her. She reminds me of my mother (RIP) and I'm so glad we have these gifts of her forever left behind...to school and give wisdom

[@aquickstory2196]

absolutely...it takes a week to read one page

[@PhetogoNoore]

Beautiful interview. Rest in peace Miss Toni.

[@stellaroman1734]

Still grieving and enjoying her books. I love the way she speaks.

[@carlinenurnberger4163]

Miss Morrison , you are immortal . Continue to shine in our hearts through your brilliance and your gallantry . Merci 🙏

[@falanajerido875]

Beautiful interviewer

[@luisaapostol2414]

Stunning literary personality, truly inspiring human being!

[@runningthegrand4423]

Toni Morrison is a fascinating woman and writer. Great interview.

[@marxmovies6607]

Is the interviewer still alive? She is fantastic too.

[@HB-xw6im]

Marx Movies hi!!! Yes she is!!!! Google her: Mavis Nicholson. She has some of the best interviews I’ve seen on KZbin. Greetings from Brasil :)

[@Ready2ReadU]

This post is very loving, indeed. Thank you for it.

[@FLOKADO]

It took her five years to write it and me just as long to read it. It’s time to re-read it now💔

[@qodeshcreative]

"because your scared when you write your first book and you don't trust your imagination so you go straight into what you know". Wow. Yes. Just yes.

[@bo24.u.98]

Give you so much respect recognition and admiration. THANK YOU 4 BEING U.

[@muahh514]

the bluest eye was very much a traumatic read for me much like the movie precious

[@programmingchicago]

What a great interview.

[@Chattonism]

This is so fulfilling to watch!

[@jardinbleu7]

Excellent interview, really!

[@mtimm001]

This is gold...what a beautiful soul and mind💖

[@alexanderewing3779]

A beautiful spirit

[@lilianmaystudio1314]

The best interview of the great Toni Morrison that I've seen! Makes me want to dig out Beloved and re-read it for the umpteenth time! Wonderful!

[@DelGloTa]

Such intellect, intelligence and brilliance.